Panthers strive toward another strong season

NORTH SEWICKLEY TWP. — For the past nine seasons, the Riverside High School boys track and field team has been undefeated in section meets.

A 10th consecutive undefeated season seems to be well within reach.

In 2013, Chuck Kotuby’s team was the undefeated section champion at 7-0 and posted an overall record of 13-1 en route to being the WPIAL Class AA runner-up. The Panthers were also the Beaver County and Tri-County champions last season.

Key returning runners are:

Seniors — Twins Aaron and Matt Tedys, who are standouts in the sprints as well as middle distances; Austin Sheridan, a PIAA medalist in the discus; and Dan Spiker and Sam Zilavy in the distance events.

Juniors — Marcel Cleckley in the hurdles; Zack Gould in the middle distance events; Logan Sheridan in the jumps; and Brandon Kemp and Shane Reich in the throwing events.

Sophomores — Nate Brown in the pole vault and distance; Doug Fox in the sprints; and Brandon Tedrow in the pole vault and sprints.

“We also have a strong group of freshmen,” Kotuby said. “Lance Fisher in the jumps and throwing and Jeremy Spiecher in the hurdles and sprints should score some points for the team.”

Kotuby noted that key runners to watch for are Aaron Tedys, who has already run a 50.6 in the 400-meter and finished 15th at the indoor state championship competing against Class AA and AAA schools. The 4x400 relay team, composed of Aaron and Matt Tedys, Gould and Marcel Cleckley, ran 3:27 and finished 16th at the indoor state championships.

Matt Tedys has run 2:02 in the 800 meters already this year and should be one of the top 400- and 800-meter runners in the WPIAL, Kotuby said.

Austin Sheridan should again be one of the top discus throwers in the state, Kotuby said. He earned a medal last year in the PIAA finals by finishing eighth.

Cleckley should be one of the top runners in the 300-meter hurdles in the WPIAL, along with Logan Sheridan in the high jump and Gould at middle distance, Kotuby said.

“Overall, our team should be pretty good again this year,” he said.

Kotuby, a 1967 graduate, was the first from Riverside to win a state title, claiming a gold medal in the 1-mile run his senior year. He is presently a physical education teacher at Riverside.